What you can learn from Angela Hartnett

We talk Italian cooking with the acclaimed chef, BBC regular and MBE honouree

1

Using lemon can take a dish to the next level. The finely grated rind adds so much flavour and the acidity of the juice can lift a dish when you don’t want to use vinegar. It’s what I reach for to finish a dish just before serving.

2

All types of onion are interchangeable. Yes, some are milder than others, but if a recipe calls for one type of onion, or a shallot, it can easily be replaced with another. And if a recipe calls for a chopped leak, that can also be replaced with onion.

3

You can make the best tomato sauce with just four ingredients – sliced garlic, olive oil, tinned tomatoes and chilli flakes. Everything needs to be cooked slowly for 40 mins until it’s jammy, then turn the heat o and enrichen it with a glug of olive oil.

4

The recipe for fresh pasta is really easy to remember. It’s one egg to every 100g of flour, and it’s ready when you’ve kneaded it and it’s not sticking to your hands. Leave it to rest and if it’s a bit wet, add a bit more flour.

5

Crab is totally underused.

I much prefer it to lobster. The meat is sweeter and more versatile; crab on toast, crab pasta, crab salad, all amazing. It’s sustainable and plentiful, too, and post-covid, plus now that we’re leaving the EU, we should support our fishing industry as much as we can.

6

The secret to lasagne is a good béchamel and lots of cheese. This was our most popular takeaway dish during lockdown. I like to put parmesan between each layer and infuse the rinds in the béchamel for extra flavour.

7

A whole baked fish is easy and impressive. People aren’t confident cooking fish but it’s the easiest thing to do. Just stick it on a tray with olive oil and lemon and put it in the oven, then bring it to the table. Most fish can be cooked like this – plaice, sole, brill, turbot – not just salmon or seabass.

8

An egg dressing is a way to make more of vegetables. You lightly boil eggs, then scoop them out of the shell and mix them with capers, olive oil, vinegar and seasoning. It’s great spooned over asparagus in season, leeks, wedges of blanched cabbage, or some sprouting broccoli. 9

My tips for cutting down on food waste. Never do a big shop without checking your cupboards and writing a list so you don’t double up. Also, I never throw away anything. Even if it’s a few spoonfuls of sauce, I’ll freeze it and add it back the next time I make something it can go in.

10

Sitting down and eating together is important. If one good thing has come out of lockdown, I think it’s people discovering the importance of food – where it comes from and spending time to share the experience of eating. It’s how I was brought up, and still now, ‘What’s for dinner?’ is the most important question of the day.